A good law on its way” “

Good news is coming for the Churches of Romania, a country with an Orthodox majority, with approximately 1,400,000 Catholics, according to the last official census of 2002 (when the data furnished by the Church itself claimed almost 1,900,000 due to more exact figures for the Greek-Catholics), i.e. 5.61% (8,76%) of the some 22 million inhabitants. The procedure that will lead to the approval of the new law on cults, with numerous advantages for religious freedom, seems to be approaching the finishing straight. The SIR correspondent in Bucharest, Patrizia Caiffa, discussed it with Archbishop JEAN-CLAUDE PÉRISSET , Apostolic Nuncio in Romania, who placed the emphasis on ecumenical dialogue.   What point has been reached by the law on cults and what will be the advantages for Catholics? “We have finalized a draft that has been in discussion for a decade or so. On 31 May a meeting between all the representatives of the various religious confessions was held at the government secretariat for cults, the agency that deals among other things with the support that the State can and wishes to give to the various cults. Under the new law, the Churches will be recognized as entities of public law. The internal organization of each cult will be recognized. Freedom to express one’s own religion in public and in private will be granted. Access will be given to the means of social communication. The religious communities will have the chance to run their own schools, not only to train ministers but also for the education of children and adolescents, with the recognition and financial support of the State. Altogether the law is good because it takes account of the parameters of religious liberty, as happens in the rest of the EU. We can express our satisfaction. If it is voted and accepted, in its present draft, we hope that, in its practical application, it will also lead to the disappearance of the mentality of state control over the Church”.   What about the return of the ecclesiastical properties that the State expropriated from the Greek-Catholics and transferred to the Orthodox during the years of Communism? “Dialogue on this point has been suspended since last autumn, ever since the Orthodox Church set, as a condition for its resumption, the renunciation by the Greek-Catholic Church of its claim to have access to the courts if no results are forthcoming. We hope that the dialogue may be resumed. Of course, these issues must be discussed in a brotherly fashion. But the condition set is unjust: a little good will is needed on the part of the Orthodox Church. Last year, however, 5 churches were returned in the Greek-Catholic diocese of Cluj. Now there’s the question of the return of the cathedral of Oradea on the coast, together with the church of the former seminary. We hope that the dialogue will bear fruit. Unfortunately there are places where Greek-Catholic communities still have to celebrate in the open air”.   Apart from this problem, how is ecumenical dialogue proceeding? “It’s more co-existence that genuine dialogue. During the Prayer Week for Christian Unity we met together, but there are also places where the Orthodox have difficulty in agreeing to pray together, respecting the attitude of other Orthodox Churches that do not admit common prayer. At the practical level, many communities have a good rapport with each other. But in the north of the country Greek-Catholics are not even permitted to build a church; pretexts valid under civil law are used to block any such request. It is easy enough to find a reason to say that the construction does not correspond to the plan… But the ecumenical commitment can find a new stimulus in the words spoken by Benedict XVI at Bari. Bucharest, from this point of view, also has an important role to play: during the visit of John Paul II, it saw the whole people gathered round the Pope and the Orthodox Patriarch. At the end of the Mass celebrated by the Pope, the people cried out en masse: ‘unitate, unitate'”. What is the state of health of the Catholic Church in Romania? “All the churches are always packed on Sundays. There is much participation in pilgrimages and devotion to the saints. People kept their faith alive during the Communist regime, which never prohibited liturgical participation. But we shouldn’t deceive ourselves: materialism is slowly changing the situation. That’s why it’s important to commit ourselves to formation, to ensure that faith becomes increasingly responsible, personal and deep”.   From a social point of view, what is the greatest emergency for Romania? “Despair. At all levels. People don’t see any economic improvements. The country does not have the resources to give more. Pensioners, for example, earn 30 euros per month, a sum that barely covers their heating bills. How can people live like this? This explains why emigration is no high. The country is being drained of the young, who deceive themselves into thinking they can have a better life in the West. Our parishes, especially Moldavia, are deprived of the generation aged between 18 and 40. Children are dumped with their grandparents; families break up”.